Report: Asia Is the Mobile Development Industry's Biggest Market

February 4, 2014

By Developer.com Staff

A new Distimo report claims that Asia was the most lucrative mobile app market for December 2013, accounting for 41 percent of mobile app revenue. By comparison, North America had 31 percent of revenue, and Europe had 23 percent. Not surpriseingly, the Asian market boasted the highest growth rate: 162 percent, year-over-year.

The report also highlighted platform differences among regions. "For Asia the divide in revenue between the Apple App Store and Google Play is almost half-and-half, while for North America, three-quarters of the revenue comes from the Apple App Store and one-quarter from Google Play. The revenue divide in North America also applies to Europe," stated the report.

In addition, the report found that the freemium model is the most lucrative way for mobile development firms to generate revenue in Asia. In fact, 96 of Chinese app revenue comes from in-app purchases.